Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS) Sees Large Volume Increase - Should You Buy?

Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 1,128,996 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 108% from the previous session's volume of 544,005 shares.The stock last traded at $28.71 and had previously closed at $29.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DRS. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leonardo DRS has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.17.

Leonardo DRS Stock Down 7.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $33.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $981.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $942.18 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%.

Leonardo DRS announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $75.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Leonardo DRS

In related news, Director Eric Salzman sold 3,477 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total transaction of $120,269.43. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,262 shares in the company, valued at $458,732.58. This trade represents a 20.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO John Baylouny sold 8,235 shares of Leonardo DRS stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $284,107.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 81,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,824,273.50. The trade was a 9.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 150,089 shares of company stock worth $5,178,619. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leonardo DRS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Leonardo DRS by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 736,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,809,000 after buying an additional 179,224 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 32,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 7,728 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 291,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,236,000 after purchasing an additional 13,613 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,239,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,371,000 after purchasing an additional 176,326 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 196,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 62,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 18.76% of the company's stock.

Leonardo DRS Company Profile

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.